Russian

Alert to film's value as both art and propaganda from early on, the Soviet Union oversaw one of the great cinematic industries in the world during the silent era, turning out narrative and documentary features influential around the world. The Stalinist era's derogatory effect on expression eroded that stature until a new wave of talent proclaimed itself during a Cold War "thaw" from the late 1950s onward. Today's Russian filmmakers mix older high-art traditions with brashly commercial new ones.